1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a new and improved apparatus for grinding the clothing of a carding element of a textile machine, such as the clothing of a carding cylinder or a cleaning cylinder.
Generally speaking, the apparatus for grinding clothing of a textile machine, which clothing is mounted at a carding element of the textile machine, such as a cylinder or roller, for instance, a main carding cylinder, a licker-in or a doffer of a carding machine, or at a revolving flat of a carding machine, is of the type comprising a grinding element movable essentially perpendicular to the direction of movement of the clothing and throughout the entire width of the clothing of the carding element, such as the cylinder. This grinding element is supported at an entrainment member, preferably a slide or carriage, guided in guide means. Drive means move the slide or carriage over the clothing in order to accomplish the aforementioned movement of the grinding element.
2. Discussion of the Background and Material Information
In a carding machine or card, the opening roller or cylinder (also known as the licker-in), the main carding cylinder, the doffer roller or cylinder (also known as the doffer) as well as the revolving flats, are each covered with clothing. Depending upon which carding element of the carding machine is covered with clothing, such clothing can differ from element to element, particularly as concerns the revolving flats which also can be covered with needle clothing in contrast to the toothed clothing of the remaining elements.
The increase in production in the so-called cleaning room and the carding room of a spinning mill, which has taken place in the past fifteen years, has imposed requirements upon the processing operations of the textile machines which have increased more than just linearly with respect to the increase in production.
In particular, of paramount importance is the need not to have to tolerate any impairment in the quality of the processed fibers, especially not to have to accept any additional damage to the fibers, notwithstanding the increased productivity or output of the textile machine.
Furthermore, a particularly important aspect is the service or operating life of the so-to-speak "tools" with increased productivity or output, since with greater machine productivity there is a corresponding decrease in the service or operating life of the tools. As a result, these tools need to be replaced more frequently.
The just mentioned service or operating life not only is significant in terms of the servicing or maintenance work required during exchange of the tools, but even more so, as concerns the altered technological result which likewise correspondingly changes as a result of wear of the tools.
Just as is the case in other technological fields where products are continually processed or machined with predetermined settings of the employed tools, it is also important in the spinning mill, as concerns the attained technological result, that these results are as consistent as possible. Stated in another way, for the further processing of yarn it is totally undesirable to have quality fluctuations present in the fibers due to the changing susceptibility to disturbances. As a specific example, it is noted that it is generally preferable to have a uniform, somewhat poorer quality of the fibers in contrast to a somewhat better average quality of the fibers which, however, is constituted by considerable up and down or wide band fluctuations in the quality of the fibers within such better quality range.
A tool which is used in the spinning mill and which is especially prone to the aforementioned wear phenomenon, is the toothed clothing used for opening fiber flocks including that used for carding thereof.
In particular, the carding machine or card, which ultimately produces the sliver to be delivered to the drawing frame, constitutes the last machine which operates with such type tool. In other words, the card represents the last piece of equipment where there is available an opportunity to avoid such fluctuations.
Those skilled in the textile art are aware of the fact that, for example, card clothing, after experiencing a predetermined maximum amount of wear, must be replaced. Yet, until such time as there occurs such maximum wear of the card clothing, such clothing is repeatedly sharpened or re-ground by using various types of commercially available grinding apparatuses. For this purpose it is not only necessary to shutdown the card, but also to partially dismantle the same in order to provide the space needed to have access to the clothing for grinding such with a grinding tool.
In the commonly assigned European Published Patent Application No. 0,322,637, published Oct. 16, 1991, and the cognate U.S. Pat. No. 4,984,395, granted Jan. 15, 1991, entitled "Grinding Device and Method for Grinding Card Clothing", there is disclosed a method and apparatus for grinding card clothing where such grinding of the card clothing is accomplished, and specifically, continuously, during carding of the textile fibers. As a result, prior to the time that the clothing is replaced, there is no need to shutdown or partially dismantle the card whenever the card clothing is re-ground.
In this just mentioned prior art grinding device or apparatus there is used a grinding element movable over the entire width of the cylinders covered with clothing. This grinding element is supported by an entrainment member guided in guides. The grinding element is continuously displaced over the clothing at predetermined intervals dependent, for instance, upon the production output and/or quality attributes of the processed fibers. Here, it is also of no consequence that the clothing contains a fiber layer.
However, experience has proven that also such a grinding element, typically constituted by a grinding stone, is prone to wear, that is to say, the grinding stone becomes less sharp, so that such grinding stone itself must be periodically removed, either to be replaced by a new grinding stone or must be re-sharpened.